Even though there may be exceptions like the one Bob cites, I believe that it would be folly to assume that all "identical" products, although differently branded and manufactured by one company, will, in fact, be identical. In many cases, you do get what you pay for. Regards, John "Seahorse" "If I knew I'd live this long, I would have taken better care of myself." - Mickey Mantle Marin Faure wrote: I read a number of years ago that there are--or were then-- only two companies in the United States that make automotive-type, wet-cell batteries from scratch. All the name brands-- Die Hard, Interstate, etc., etc., etc. come from these two manufacturers. There are more than two filter manufacturers, but it's the same idea. The same is true for fuel pumps. The trick there is to specify the one for the cheapest car - e.g. Bosch used to make the same pump for VW, BMW and Ferrari. The last one is nearly three times as expensive as the first - the only difference is the paint job and logo. Bob Davies

There are most certainly differences. If you want to see what they are, take a look at this site. http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html While this is a bit dated, it shows a lot of differences in how different filters are made. I only use Wix now after looking at this. Keith __ I went to San Francisco. I found someone's heart. Now what? ----- Original Message ----- From: <Truelove39@aol.com> > Even though there may be exceptions like the one Bob cites, I believe > that > it would be folly to assume that all "identical" products, although > differently branded and manufactured by one company, will, in fact, be > identical. In > many cases, you do get what you pay for.